


The Klance Lives of Christmas

by CLDJendis66



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Absolute KLUFF (FLUFF AND KLANCE), Alfor Older Space Dad, Blue the Cat - Freeform, Christmas, Crush feelings, Hallmark Movie AU, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, It's not exactly like the movie, KLANCING, Klance Secret Santa 2016, M/M, Red the Cat, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space Mom Allura (Voltron), Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), Teensy Bit of Angst, The Nine Lives of Christmas AU, The receiver of this fic requested that I change it up when writing it, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 09:36:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8974441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CLDJendis66/pseuds/CLDJendis66
Summary: Keith is a veterinary student, who's determined to have no relationship with anyone until he graduates. Lance is a firefighter that avoids commitment like the plague, content with his bachelor life.That is...until a cat named Blue comes along to change all that.





	1. Chapter 1

Keith groaned as he made his way to class. He already had had a cup of coffee, but it hadn't kicked in yet to his dismay. Shiro, his close friend, co-worker, and classmate, easily noted this.

"You could just go to bed earlier you know?"

"Shut up Shiro. I don't need the dad talk from you."

The older male with black hair and a strip of white covering most of the front, merely chuckled at his response as he took a sip of his own coffee with his metal prosthetic arm. Although the campus was fairly small, walking to their class always took a while, since the parking lot was nowhere near it. Keith, already not a morning person, suffered only more so with making the effort.

"Tell me why again I'm not dead yet?" he muttered as the door to the lab approached their view. "No. Wait don't. My brain's still dead from studying."

Shiro replied anyway. "Because your sister and I make an effort to keep you alive. Besides, you've loved animals since you were a kid and you never back down from a challenge."

Keith groaned because he couldn't argue with that.

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The flash went off for the nth time, but that didn't seem to bother Lance as he posed in front of the camera.

"Dude, you're not the only who's gonna show up on the calendar," piped in Hunk jokingly as he stood on the side with the rest of the group that were waiting for their turn.

"Mate, y're gonna eat up the mem'ry of that SD card before we get our photos taken."

"You're just jealous," he declared in a sing song voice as he posed again with a shit eating grin. Shay, the photographer, giggled at how ridiculous he was behaving, but then again this was Lance they were dealing with.

"Come on son. It's Coran's turn now," jumped in Alfor, the father figure of the group, as he snatched the showy boy by the collar and dragged him out of the view. Obviously Lance wasn't content with how he crossed his arms and pouted.

Shay worked with the quirky Australian as he made some very exaggerated expressions at the camera that had the gang chuckling at how hard he was trying. Hunk complimented her skills as she succeeded in getting some good natural looking shots of Coran. She blushed at the praise and was about to continue when—

The fire alarm went off.

"Alright men! Let's go! Let's Go!" shouted Alfor as he clapped his hands together to hurry them up. They immediately suited up for whatever the emergency was this time. Shay watched them prepare without getting in the way before waving them off. "Good luck guys!"

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Shiro sighed as he noticed Keith having fallen asleep yet again with a hand holding the side of his face and his elbow resting on the table. The coffee hadn't helped at all he realized and continued taking notes as professor Iverson spoke, "Feline dilated cardiomyopathy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy are both common in many species. Your pussycat patient may present with...Mr. Kogane? Can you tell us what symptoms a cat with cardiomyopathy might present with?"

Aw crap.

He couldn't waste time. Shiro knocked away Keith's elbow to make his hand release the hold on the side of his face and snap him awake. It wasn't fast enough since the raven haired boy found himself blinking his eyes open to a professor Iverson with a sarcastic grin.

"Mr. Kogane? Feline heart disease. Care to explain to the class—"

"Low pitch cough, breathing difficulties, possible weight loss or gain, reduced mobility, swelling of the abdomen-"

"That's enough-"

"Heart disease typically causes the heart to enlarge and the enlargement causes the loss of efficiency-"

"Kogane!"

He froze as the professor made a facepalm of defeat at failing to humiliate him. "Just go back to sleep."

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Shiro finally released the laughter he was holding the instant they were in the parking lot. "I can't believe you just destroyed Iverson! He was fuming and ready to rain hell on you."

"I don't even remember half of it since I fell back asleep..." replied Keith as he yawned and finally felt a little less dead after the small nap in class.

"Seriously though Keith," started his close friend as he finally caught his breath, "you should balance out stuff in your life more."

At this Keith huffed, blowing a few strands of his hair away from his face. "I don't need to do anything. I just gotta get through school and work, and I'll be fine."

"Come on. There's nothing wrong with relaxing a little. When's the last time you went on a date?"

"I don't need this."

"Keith. It's Christmas."

"NO! Don't you dare go dad on me!"

Shiro was giving him a deadpan stare at this point. He sighed at his best friend's stubbornness. "Just think about it will ya?"

Keith rolled his eyes, but sighed, "After I graduate then, sure."

"Well, I tried," admitted the dad figure with a shrug as they approached Keith's car. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah. Bye" he replied with a small smile to his close friend and opened the door to the driver's side. He had just gotten in and was putting in his messenger bag when the sound of siren caught him off guard and made him knock his head against the door frame. He cursed as he rubbed at the place of impact before hearing the damn sound again as the truck passed. He looked up and made eye contact with one of the firefighters who sent a cocky grin and some finger guns his way. Keith was really unsure of what to make of the situation, but shrugged it off and went to work.

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"Seriously. You're gonna make me depressed the more you read out loud these symptoms for all sorts of diseases cats don't deserve."

Keith smirked as he looked up from restocking some canned cat food. "You've got headphones to block me out you know?"

"Don't you dare turn this on me! I'm trying to be responsible!"

"Uhuh."

"Besides, all the symptoms you just read match me to a T today. I think you'll be a great doctor."

"Pidge...I'm sorry, but you may have feline kidney failure," he says pitifully at her.

"Or I pulled another insane all nighter?" she added with a sheepish smile and a shrug as Keith shook his head in disbelief.

The bell at the door of Altea's Pet Supply Store jingled to signal that another customer had entered and Pidge turned to see who it was before sighing exhaustedly, "They're back."

At the entrance stood a chubby elderly man, talking to one of the workers and asking for assistance as they held a barking yorky in one arm. The store owner Rolo with his purple dyed hair, popped up by where Keith and Pidge were. "Any volunteers to help Mr. Arusian guys?"

"Just send Pidge in and hope for a miracle."

"You realize you're asking for a disaster right? Not even his dog likes me. It only likes Keith."

"Looks like we got a winner," added Rolo with a small smirk towards him.

The raven haired boy merely rolled his eyes. "Fiiiine Pidge, but you owe me a coffee."

She grinned. "You got a deal."

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Lance was fumbling for the keys to his door, but he dropped them in the midst of finding the right one. "Seriously?" he murmured as he bent down to pick it up. 

In the same instant two things happened:

He heard a barking dog approach the porch-

and a cat jumped onto his back to rest on on his shoulder as he stood up.

"What the quiznak-" he started, caught off guard by the event before he regained his composure and proceeded to shoo the dog away. He sighed as he carefully removed the cat from it's perch and placed it on the ground. "Next time, be a little careful where you go bud."

The firefighter figured the cat would scurry and turned away to open the door to his house. He then quickly made his way to the kitchen to find something to snack on when he nearly jumped in hearing a meow come from behind him.

"Really?" he rhetorically asked as he went over to the island to take a closer look at the grey furred feline.

"What's your name anyway?" he probed before looking at the collar. "Hm...Blue," he murmured and took note that it was probably due to the eyes it had. Same said cat then approached his hand in asking to be petted and purred when Lance relented by scratching behind one of his ears. "Huh," he said affably. "You're pretty cute," he mentioned as the cat looked at him curiously, "but I work a 24 hour shift."

"Plus, staying this gorgeous is like a second job," mentioned the tall male as he gave Blue a cocky grin and finger guns.

The feline became very excited and with grace quickly climbed his arm to perch on his shoulder again with the addition of rubbing happily against his neck.

Lance had to admit it. This kitty was way too adorable and he knew it'd be the death of him, but...

"Fine," he surrendered as he made a facepalm at himself. "Only one night though. Then in the morning we're looking for your owner."

Blue simply kept purring.

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Keith was recounting some vocabulary terms from one of his other subjects as he approached the stairwell to his door when someone popped out from behind one of the walls. "Keith!"

"HOLY QUIZNAK!" he yelped as he jumped back, ready to fight, and stopped when he heard a familiar cackle that could only belong to his landlord. "Oh...Haggar. Um...good evening?" He honestly never understood how someone so old enjoyed giving people mini heart attacks on a daily basis. In that this wasn't the first time she'd surprised him.

"Evening to you too boy. I have question for you," she said, suddenly serious.

"Sure. Ask away," he replied nonchalantly and not curious as to what she'd ask about. Typically, it would be random like if he knew any places that sold weird plants or crystals. One time she even asked if he knew where they sold a variety of candles.

"Rax said they heard a cat this morning during his daily jog. Have you heard anything?"

The raven haired boy froze. "Oh really? I mean there's always cats wandering the area-"

"He distinctly heard it coming from your apartment building."

He blinked a few times before he finally found something to say after fighting off the desire to gawk in a panic. "I'm not sure what to tell you ma'm, but I'll keep a lookout for anything. Having no pets is the first rule here."

She nodded a little too happily. "Yes. Yes. It would mean immediate eviction."

Keith smiled back warily before she headed off to do whatever she did in her free time. Once out of sight, he let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and proceeded to enter his apartment. Momentarily he basked in the warmth of the room before checking to see if Haggar was still lurking around. There were times that he'd spot her walking around with a candle right after talking to her and it added to list how he couldn't understand how she even knew how to manage being a landlord, much less pay bills.

Once he was done checking and removed his jacket, he quietly called out, "I'm home Red."

The excited meowing that increased in loudness as it approached him was something Keith could never get over, especially with how adorable it sounded. It never stopped either until Red hopped from the ground into his arms to be held like a baby. He laughed and cradled her as he took a seat by the small dining table in the kitchen. Keith briefly went over his day as Red purred happily or would make comments through some more cute meows.

"Ready to have some dinner-"

"Meerow," she replied happily as she climbed up shoulders to observe him cook.

"-before I dive into another murderous session of studying?"

Her next response was grimmer than her first one.

"Yeaaaaah," he sighed. "I don't look forward to it either."

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Lance was again caught deep in reading another fanfiction.

He hadn't intended to read **all** of it, but the plot and character development had been so good that he couldn't help but welcome the fact that it was long. So consumed he was that he didn't notice when Blue had jumped onto the bed to rest by the warmth of his long shaven legs.

"Oh no. No. Off the bed."

Blue looked at him as if hoping the cuteness would win him over again. The firefighter made the wise decision to not look him in the eye as he got up and swooped up the feline to drop him off outside. "Sorry cutie, but I gotta draw the line somewhere. Beauty sleep is a priority for me."

He swung the door closed as he yawned, careful to not ruin the face mask he was wearing for his skin. Nevertheless, he failed to checked if the lock had clicked into place as he dozed off the sleep wearing headphones playing Crystallize by Lindsey Stirling.

The feline pushed at the door with his paw, hoping to get the firefighter's attention, but received a better response when it opened silently and slowly. He crept towards the bed and hopped on before taking the opportunity to curl up on his chest, happily basking in the warmth Lance provided.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little note to clear any confusion:
> 
> Keith's thoughts are _like this_
> 
> Lance's thoughts are _like this_

Hunk walked in to work whistling with his backpack on one shoulder when he spotted Lance sitting on the front of one of the fire trucks while on the phone...and holding a grey feline.

"Uhhhhh..."

His best friend looked up and lifted an eyebrow at him as if everything was normal and the large guy was the one being weird. He soon finished his phone call and sighed as Hunk came to sit next to him. "You okay dude? What's with the cat anyway?"

"Well if you can believe it, Blue here snuck into my house and I let him stay over till I contacted his owner."

"But?"

"His owner is some old guy named Zarkon that recently passed away, soooooo now he's doesn't a place to go back to unfortunately."

Hunk whistled. "That's rough Buddy," he said as he bent down to let the kitty sniff his hand at eye level. Once he seemed satisfied, he rubbed his face against Hunk's hand and purred.

"Huh."

"What?"

"Nothing. Just weird is all."

"Weird?"

"I mean, I kind of expected him to jump on you too?"

"Lance you just made it sound like this cat robs people..."

He gave a blank stare at his best friend and was about to explain about Blue climbing up his arm when the door by the front desk opened to a distressed looking Alfor. He proceeded to order Coran to check the area where all the uniforms were stored before turning his attention to them. "Have you boys by any chance seen the keys to my truck?"

They took a moment to look at each other before shaking their heads.

He groaned in annoyance at having no luck before his expression changed to mild surprise in seeing the cat in Lance's arms. "What have we here?"

"His new roommate," teased Hunk before Lance punched him in the arm. "Hey!"

Their leader chuckled before Coran made his way over to the group, "No sign of there either-Oh! Lookie here! Is he y'rs Lance? Wait...no of course not."

Lance scoffed while Hunk said, "Ooooh" at the casual burn of Coran's unintentional insult from being too literal. "Do I seriously-Hang on a second," he cutoff as he put down the grey feline before he continued with the addition of flailing his arms, " Do I seriously not look like I would have such cute thing in my home?!"

"I mean y'r always so dedicated to not commit, it's a wonder how you end up dating so many women and men."

The others nodded in agreement.

"I thought you all cared about me," he exasperated as he slumped over dramatically.

"We're actually pretty concerned for you. I mean who is it this time? Nyma if I recall?" brought up Alfor as he crossed his arms in thought.

"Yeah. And?"

Hunk jumped in. "Dude. Seriously, why do they come after you? She's not even worth it."

"What do you-"

"Mate. I think the answ'r's obvious. They all like the **challenge** of winning Lance McClain's heart. It all starts with him saying he's not interested in a relationship and they all hope to believe they can change that."

The bewildered look on Lance's face was so priceless, that Hunk took his phone out to take a picture. He squawked when he realized what was happening and proceeded to chase Hunk around the area to delete the picture from his phone. Alfor and Coran shook their heads in disbelief that these young men were daily saviors of dangerous fires before they decided to continue their search for the car keys.

Nevertheless, the universe decided to be pleasantly nice today by having Blue pop out from under the truck, playfully pushing the keys across the ground, until they struck against Alfor's feet. The grey furred cat didn't persist his game in that happening. Instead, he sat and looked up at the elder expectantly with his deep blue sea eyes.

Alfor leaned down as he laughed at the sweet creature before picking him up. "Lance!" he called, grabbing the lean male's attention and forcing him to pause his chase after Hunk. "Yeah?"

"Blue is officially our mascot, though I recommend you keep him."

He anxiously rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand while staring at the ground. "I don't know Chief. Honestly, I'd like to see if anyone can take him. He deserves better than me."

The elderly firefighter was going to father him yet again, but Coran stopped him by placing a hand gently on his forearm. "Let 'im think it ov'r. I'm sure he'll see what we see." Reluctantly, Alfor accepted.

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Keith adored Red.

But the mornings temporarily changed that to hate.

Especially because of how he'd wake up to her whole body sleeping on his face.

The disdain was also because whenever he was about to move her off of him, she'd start purring and nudge at his cheek or forehead happily, and that cuteness was just beyond **unfair** at how well it defeated him.

Once again he sighed in disbelief at the situation, but he welcomed it nonetheless. Red was a constant reminder that he wasn't entirely alone. Furthermore, he very much appreciated how she was always willing to wait for him to come home everyday and still greet him with such overwhelming excitement.

"Come on Red. I gotta go grocery shopping. We barely had enough to make dinner last night."

She meowed and stayed where she was.

"Auuugghhh....Why are you like this?"

Eventually, he got her off before she could stop him with her purrs again. He sighed as he poured himself some milk in a bowl before pouring in some cereal, then proceed to get Red's food ready as he ate his breakfast rapidly. She patiently waited for her meal by perching on his shoulder as usual. When it was finally served, she happily hopped down to enjoy it. Keith quickly changed out of his pajamas and gathered the things he'd need for the day while running the errand. Red was still eating so he waited a bit before he gently hugged her goodbye and headed out.

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Right after the declaration of keeping Blue, the gang had sent Lance to do grocery shopping for the firehouse kitchen, which he thought was totally uncalled for. Still, he was here and running the errand anyway.

With the very feline himself.

It was definitely a new experience, but the firefighter had known for a while that the small town's market allowed people to enter with pets, so as long as they didn't cause trouble. The grey cat was well behaved and he merrily remained resting on his shoulder as he gathered the items on the shopping list.

"Onions, bell peppers, lettuce, garlic, cilantro, parsley-oh that's right we need to get you food," he murmured as he was checking of things on the small piece of paper before making his way with the cat food to the pet food aisle. Upon seeing the variety, he mentally slapped himself for not doing research on what brand to get him before leaving the firehouse. Then again, he'd done fine with giving Blue some boiled chicken the day before. Still, he knew the feline needed to be properly nourished while he looked for a new owner.

"Any thoughts Blue."

"Miirow."

"Yeah...I'm lost too," he said as he proceeded to get his phone out and start looking up reviews when he saw someone enter his view. 

A guy about his height with jet black hair was trying to climb the shelves to grab one of the dry foods that was closer to the back of the top shelf. 

"You probably shouldn't do that."

"Shut up. I do this all the time."

"Okay then. Be my guest."

The firefighter watched him try a few times with no success and even stifled a chuckle with the back of his hand. Blue seemed rather curious of the said person in front of them. He was about to grab the bag for him when the guy slipped on his latest attempt and fell back.

_Oh shit._

Without thinking Lance rushed over to catch him like in a trust fall before feeling a warmth crawl up his face in realizing the situation. He did his best to keep his composure when he proceeded to ask, "A-A-are you alright?"

The person in his arms was rather flustered at having embarrassed himself, but he managed to reply with a, "Y-y-yeah, I'm fine. Um...Mind letting me stand now?"

"Oh. Right! Yeah, sorry," he apologized before he helped him up and then suddenly felt the need to introduce himself. "I'm Lance."

"Keith. Sorry, for-uh-that," he struggled to say as he fought off the blush that contrasted well with his light skin tone.

Lance laughed. "Don't worry about it. I mean I help for a living anyway," he added as he grabbed a bag and handing it to him as Blue rubbed at his cheek. "Still, why didn't you just go to customer service?"

"I don't like asking for help," he murmured as he rubbed at his arm and looked away. "And usually this doesn't happen."

_ Why am I even talking to him? No. Scratch that. How am I even talking to him?! _

The firefighter hummed, "I mean I get it, but you know? I may not always be around to catch you," he said, winking with a cocky grin and watched with pleasure as Keith turned absolutely crimson. 

_He's cute, even if he is does have mullet hair. Mullethead would suit him. Wait, what? Quiznak! Get it together Lance!_

_ This Pretty Boy is gonna be the death of me-why did I just call him that? _

When he managed somewhat to recover he asked in a surprisingly even voice, "What were you looking for anyway?"

"Oh. I was actually trying to decide what to get for Blue here," he answered as he scratched the cat's head.

"New owner?"

"Sorta. Long story short, he found me after his owner passed away, so I'm trying to find the little guy a new home. In the meantime, I gotta care for him, so....yeah..."

"He looks well taken care of," mentioned Keith as he held out his hand for Blue to sniff. Lance figured he'd just happily rub against it, but instead right after deciding to trust the Mullethead, the feline hopped onto his shoulder and proceeded to rub himself against Keith's neck. "I promise you...that was entirely unintended."

Although Keith was surprised by Blue's action, he found himself laughing and returned the caress with obvious experience. "This is pretty rare with cats."

"What do you mean?"

"They're considered intuitive and usually this act signifies that they both trust you and like you. The only other I cat I know that does this is Red, but I mean I've had her since she was a kitten."

"Huh."

"What?"

"Blue did that to me almost right after I met him, but he hasn't done it with anyone else-I mean-er-until now..."

"Oh," replied Keith quietly as he shyly looked away momentarily before looking up with something to say, all while Blue cuddled up on him shoulder, "Regarding the food, just get the same one I got along with the canned food of the same brand. Alternating them should do well for him. Cheap brands can cause male cats a lot of kidney problems."

"Are you by chance a vet or something?"

"I wish I already was," griped the raven haired male as he slumped forward, careful not to knock off the feline resting on him. "Right now I'm being murdered by finals."

"Yikes. That's rough buddy. Good luck with that and thanks again for-uh-the help-with-um-you know?"

_Goddamnit Lance. This is not the time to fail at speaking english!_

Just when he thought he had regained his composure, he made the mistake to return his gaze to Keith. The affable smile on his face destroyed all the firefighter's progress and he immediately felt the redness on his cheeks.

"Yeah-um-uh-n-n-no p-problem," murmured Keith as he looked away and flushed a bit too, fighting off the thought of how adorable the firefighter looked.

_ Come on Keith. Stop this before this turns into a pointless crush. You need to finish school first! _

He was struggling to find a way to end the awkward moment when the both jumped at the sound of a phone going off. Blue remained unfazed. He was too comfortable on Keith to care. Lance however was fumbling to get his cellular to stop as he answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Mate, w're waiting for you! Are you being a dill again and flirting with someone?"

"What the hell Coran?!"

Away from the phone he heard him say to someone, "Told ya."

He made a facepalm and avoided the confused look on the gorgeous Mullethead.

_Gorgeous? Oh my-_

"Oi! Lance! You still there?"

"Yeah. Look, I'll be there in 15 minutes. You guys did give me quite a lot to buy you know?"

"Not our fault you were dilly dallying," he heard Hunk say.

"What the-Do you guys have me on speaker?!" Lance exclaimed and heard Keith burst into laughter.

He facepalmed. "I can't quiznaking win..."

"Just hurry up you ankle biter," he heard Coran say before he hung up.

The Pretty Boy was in bewilderment of his family, but deep down he was happy they were in his life, so he sighed and turned back to Keith, who was catching his breath. "Sorry about that. They love to pull my leg I swear," he mentioned as he placed one of his hands on his hips and the other occupied itself in putting his phone away.

"It's fine. Oh, and you're gonna have to call Blue back. I can't move him."

"Huh?"

"Well, if cat makes a move like say what Blue did, they have to make the last move too like getting off, especially since he seems really cozy on my shoulder."

"Come on Blue," Lance said as he held out his arm.

The cat didn't acknowledge his statement.

Using his other arm, Lance pinched the bridge of his nose as Keith chuckled slightly at his torment before saying, "How did he jump on you the first time? That's probably what he associates as you calling to him instead."

Lance froze in realizing what he'd have to do.

_Oh my quiznaking god...I'm here trying to stop flirting and this freakin' cat is forcing me to! WHAT THE HELL?! UNIVERSE THIS IS NOT FUNNY! NOT COOL AT ALL!_

"Lance?"

"Yeah, I think you're right, but-um-you're gonna have to-uh-bear with me."

The Mullethead raised an eyebrow at the Pretty Boy. "What do you-" he cut off as the firefighter showed him a cocky smile and proceeded to shoot some finger guns in his direction. It was ridiculous and yet...the warmth the vet student had been trying so hard to suppress was now back in full force.

**Keith.exe had stopped working.**

Seconds passed before his brain started functioning again. He was about to demand why Lance had done that when he suddenly felt the feline jump off him towards his temporary owner. The firefighter turned away before Keith could get a closer look at the blush on his face.

"Hasta la later Keith!" he called as he headed off with Blue cozying up to his new resting place. The raven haired male merely shook his head in disbelief at what had just occurred and struggled with getting himself together as he tried to finish his own grocery shopping.

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Even though it was hours after the encounter, it felt as if it was seconds ago.

Red had happily greeted him upon getting the call for the all clear, but she grew worried as he kept randomly spacing out over the event at the store. She'd lick him on the cheek to break him out of the trance.

To take his mind off it, he decided to study for a while, make some lunch and then do some chores around the house. He was already very familiar with the terms and concepts for his upcoming final, but he didn't want to get cocky and proceeded to swallow up the information all over again. Somehow, after making some lunch, he managed to sweep the floors and wipe down the surfaces that needed most attention. Keith barely had enough energy to take a shower, but the momentary peace started letting back in thoughts of Lance, so he found himself rushing through the supposed-to-be relaxing moment. In finishing up, exhaustion started sinking in to where he could care less about how wet his hair was upon lying on the bed before falling asleep. When he woke up, Red was on his face again like the dork that she was. He argued with her of course to get off before he could make the effort to stand up to make lunch for them. The raven haired male wanted to continue studying, but he felt so dead inside from having studied earlier, he decided instead to play a bit of computer game he hadn't played in a long while to distract himself till he heard a certain knock pattern at the door that could come from only one person he knew.

Keith rolled his eyes in checking the time. Said someone was a little too early as always. He proceeded to walk to the door after telling Red to stay quiet in his the room, especially since she was all too excited to greet their guest.

In opening the door, he was met with death hug from his sister Allura. She was beautiful with her dark Moroccan skin tone, her luscious long silver hair, and her eyes that were a mixture of cyan and a touch of fuchsia.

"Can't...breathe..." he struggled to say, yet always impressed at how strong she was. She squeaked out an apology before letting go. "I'm so sorry! I was just—"

"-really excited to see me. I know Sis. It's fine," he laughed as he placed a hand behind his head and let her inside. The instant the door closed, he allowed her to do the honors of summoning his cat.

"Reeeeeeeeeed," she cooed in her British accent, "Auntie Allura is here!"

Of course, said feline came rushing in with her musical meowing prior to jumping joyously into her aunt's arms. "She looks lovely Keith. Oh! Are you ready to go to the Chamber of Commerce Holiday Party?"

He groaned as he tilted his head towards the ceiling. "Can I just...not go?"

Allura's eyes narrowed at him. "You have no choice baby brother. All the businesses in town have to attend."

"Ugh!" he grunted as he made a facepalm at his situation before he felt her shove him towards his room. "Go find something nice to wear you dolt."

"I hate you so much."

She merely grinned deviously as the ginger feline meowed happily in her arms, which she wished she could take home with her were it not for the fact that she'd be putting her four pet mice in danger.

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Lance was busy painting the walls a delft blue when he heard the door unlock and the familiar sound of heels clicking against the hardwood floor.

"Hi Babe."

In turning around, he came to face with the loveliest model in the town: Nyma. She was wearing a little black dress, sleek high heels, and had her light golden hair arranged with most of it in two large loose pigtails while her bangs hung casually by the sides of her forehead. A devious smirk completed the look.

"You ready to go?"

The firefighter always found her ability to make any look work impressive, but it never did more than that, especially since she liked to manipulate a lot of situations to her favor. Lance had been pretty smitten with her at first, but once her colors had shown, he no longer fell for her antics. Though it was rather interesting to see how Blue could care less how she was presenting herself when he took a second to look before continuing to watch his temporary owner paint the walls.

"I'll just finish this last bit here," he said as he pointed behind himself, but he could tell her attention had gone elsewhere.

"Why do you have a cat?"

"He found me and I'm just keeping him for now until I can find him a new owner."

She peered around the room and spotted the cat food. "Why would you buy the most expensive food? All cat foods are the same. You should've just bought the cheapest one."

He shook his head as he finished painting the last of the section of the wall he was working on. "Nuh uh. The cheaper brands can cause male cats kidney problems and I'd rather not risk that."

Nyma delicately placed a hand on her hip as she eyed her boyfriend before continuing to speak. "Sounds like you're quite willing to be his new owner. I thought you didn't like commitment Hun."

Lance rolled his eyes before he walked over to where she was and gave her a quick kiss. "I promise it's temporary."

"Good because I'm pretty insulted with how he's ignored me and we don't need something that's like a child weighing us down."

_Us?_

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The drive to the event wasn't long, but the liveliness of the party surprised Lance. He could never understand how everyone found the enthusiasm to be there. He spotted his crew right off the bat, but he couldn't approach them immediately until he sat with Nyma for a while, so she wouldn't complain later.

Happily, the blond approached the table where the pet store owner Rolo was sitting at. In spotting the couple he waved from his seat. Nyma rapidly sat down and hugged him lightly. "I'm so happy to see you Rolo. This is my boyfriend Lance," she presented ever so sweetly and that falsely innocent voice.

Lance awkwardly waved as her cousin looked up and gave him a smile. "Hey dude. Nice to meet you. Take a seat."

"Uh...sure," he said and did so just before his girlfriend hooked her left arm with his right.

_What is her deal? *Insert question mark above head here*_

She hadn't noticed his perplexed expression because she was occupied probing Rolo on if any of his workers were present. "Hm... yeah, I think all three should be here," he replied as he began counting them off with his fingers, "Pidge, Matt, Shiro and Keith."

Nyma noticed Lance freeze. "Babe, is some-"

"Oh, and I can point 'em out to you," piped in the purple haired male, not realizing that he had interrupted his cousin from attempting to interrogate Lance.

_Keith works in a pet store?! Of course he does, I mean-UGH! Why is this such a big deal?!_

He could feel his pulse quicken a little in learning this newfound piece of information and only prayed that she wouldn't notice.

Rolo found Shiro and Matt first, who were socializing with a small crowd. Pidge was by a table, tapping away at her laptop before she looked up to Keith approaching it with some gorgeous female that apparently was his sister named Allura.

The Pretty Boy fought hard not to gawk at the vet student _*Insert internal screaming here for Lance*_ as he walked through the crowd with a face fully expressing discomfort. His girlfriend soon returned her attention to him. "So Hun, is there something you wanna tell me?"

The flame of curiosity was obvious in her eyes, but he had to play it smart if he wanted her to not bother him the rest of the night. "Oh, I just thought I forgot to do something for the firehouse. I'm gonna go talk to the crew about it," he said as he took advantage of the opportunity to get up and walk towards his family.

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Too many people.

Correction.

**Way too many people.**

Keith was still trying to figure out how his sister had managed to drag him here, all while thinking it was a good idea. He sighed as he felt himself be pulled through the crowd towards a table where Pidge was located. She looked up from her laptop and grinned.

"Hey you two."

Allura smiled back as the siblings sat down. "Where's your brother Pidge?"

"Matt and Shiro are chatting in a group, making connections as usual whenever it comes to these events," she stated as she waved her hand dismissively. "Also, I got you some water in case you were thirsty."

"Thanks Pidge," said the Mullethead as he took a sip from his cup.

Allura clapped her hands together and said, "So Keith, I think I have someone that I can send you on a date with."

He proceeded to knock his head against the table. "Please stop."

"You can't be so alone for the remainder of your life."

"Pidge is alone."

"HEY!"

"Yes, but she is an exception due to her age."

"What?! That's not fair!"

"Thank you Allura."

"So what's your excuse now?"

Keith panicked in realizing how cornered he was and then looked around the room as he tried to figure out how to respond. As he feels the dread of defeat seeping in, a familiar set of brown hair cuts across his vision.

_ No... _

Oh yes.

Lance was walking across the room to some friends and the events of earlier that morning came flooding back like a tsunami. He ignored the overwhelming warmth that happened to course through his whole body. Keith turned backed to his sister and did his best to say in the calmest voice, "Well, actually I already am sorta-uh dating someone-"

She cupped his face in her hands. "Why would you keep me in the dark till now?! Details! Now!"

Keith brings himself to retell the story of their first encounter at the cost of being cackled at by Pidge, whereas Allura found it beyond adorable. However, he didn't mention Lance's name out of worry that he'd be recognized and caught in the lie.

"Wow dude. I know you're not a morning person, but that's just **gold** ," Pidge admitted once she caught her breath from laughing so hard. The raven haired male merely glared at her just as Allura probed, "What's his name?"

_ Shit... _

"I call him Pretty Boy," he mentioned without thinking, but was glad he still hadn't revealed the firefighter's name.

The silver haired female was going to press for more information, but she suddenly received a call from a client and had to excuse herself. Her brother sighed in relief, but he was well aware of how not free he was just yet.

"Lemme guess, you just met this person, but you haven't really dated them. Regardless, this guy happened to impress you through some miracle to cause you to develop a crush."

"Quiznak you."

"Guess I'm right."

He groaned as Shiro came to the table, who was informed by the hazel haired girl of the situation and was in disbelief that this all happened in a day. "This is a **miracle**. Pidge I think the gods have answered our prayers."

"Oh my quiznaking god, I can't believe you guys," muttered the Mullethead as he glared daggers at them both, which wasn't as menacing as usual due to the pink color dusted on his cheeks.

"Don't worry lover boy, we won't let Allura know what's going on. She'll probably figure it out eventually, though we'll do what we can to distract her," mentioned Pidge as dad mode Shiro rolled his eyes at her, a indication that this plan would only last a short while at most. As aggravating his family could be sometimes, Keith knew they always meant well and that they were always there for him. 

Nonetheless, right now, he needed some time to think before he could confront his sister when she returned to the table. 

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The garden by the building was a nice place to get some fresh air. Lance just wanted some time to think and a place where he felt he wasn't being watched by a girlfriend who was probably being hypocritical about not wanting commitment.

Said area happened to have a bit of a roman theme with the presence of some columns in the garden, which he took the liberty to lean on one of them and close his eyes. This morning was something he hadn't expected. Then again, it wouldn't even have occurred if it weren't for Blue popping into his life so casually.

He had closed his eyes to take in the small peace when they suddenly snapped open in hearing someone approach. At first he thought maybe it was his girlfriend trying to find him, but knew Nyma was never into being the one to give in to situations, so he threw that possibility out the door. Just for curiosity, he turned to look.

"Keith?"

The raven haired male had nearly jumped from having stared at the ground with his hands in his pockets, not realizing till then that he was now in Lance's presence yet again.

"Couldn't resist my charm I see?"

"You're ridiculous."

"Well...you're a Mullethead!"

"What? God, why are you such a Pretty Boy for an idiot?!"

Both froze in realizing that they were nicknaming each other as if they were a couple and blushed furiously. Keith then, by some force, moved towards the column next to Lance and leaned on it as well. "You trying to avoid people too?"

At that, the firefighter laughed. "That obvious huh?"

"Well, if it helps you feel better, I kinda am too. My sister means well, but sometimes she does too much."

"Sounds nice though. The person I'm avoiding is my date."

Keith froze. "Soooo, like a girlfriend?"

"Sorta, but not really. We're not interested in commitment."

The vet student could relate well to the last topic and ignored the tightness in his chest in hearing that Lance had a "sorta girlfriend". Though the fact that he was ignoring her made him consider whether he should even have a crush on him.

"I don't think I've ever really been interested in love either..."

Keith watched his demeanor change from cheerful to solemn. He didn't understand why, but it bothered him immensely that he made an effort to try to lighten the mood. "Don't let my sister hear you say that or she'll end up preaching you about how true love exists."

Pretty Boy chuckled in hearing the comment and it was relieving to the Mullethead.

"Enlighten me on what she might say."

"Hm...oh! I've got a good one she told me a while ago."

"Fire away."

"She came over to my house one day and tells me that mountain lions actually take a leap of faith in love."

"What?"

"I know. Apparently, when a male finds a female that he's attracted to, he jumps in front her, stopping her in her tracks. Then, he climbs to the highest peak he can find and starts howling and professing his love for her."

"I've never heard of a more romantic animal in my life to be honest."

Keith chuckled before mentioning the final detail, "If she joins him at the top of the mountain they'll be together for life. Or so my sister said."

Lance shook his head in disbelief at what he was hearing, "She definitely does her research, I'll give her that."

"I think she's rubbed off on me a bit because sometimes I kinda want something like that, but I have too much to do before I can even consider a relationship."

_ Why am even telling him this? Keith get it together and ignore these crush feelings! _

"Makes sense. I mean-"

"Lance?!"

The Pretty Boy stilled in hearing his name called. He moved from his position and saluted to the vet student, "Looks like that's my cue to leave. Hasta la later Keith," he stated and turned away just in time to hide the flush on his face.

"Yeah, see you," Keith replied and once Lance was out of sight, he hid his face in his heads and struggled to control his heart beat.


	3. Chapter 3

_**1 week later…**_

Lance walked into the firehouse with the grey feline on his shoulders. He was rather enjoying his company and was considering of keeping him around, since maintenance of said kitty was actually not such a nightmare. He was well trained with the litter box and somehow actually able to use the toilet too. The firefighter had no idea how to even process that last one. Nevertheless, the food the Mullethead had recommended had worked out well in the end and the brown haired male could tell that he was looking significantly better with how shiny his fur coat had become.

Hunk popped out from the break room to usher him in for breakfast with the gang. The table was set and everyone was eating some fresh omelets, bacon, pancakes, and even some sausage. Lance had already brought in some of Blue's food to the firehouse so that whenever they all ate together, he was never left out.

"Soooo, seems like you're pretty okay with commitment so far huh?" mentioned his best friend as he prepped the firehouse cat's food. 

The lean male sputtered a bit before he composed himself and tried to seem very casual. "I mean, it's not so bad and we get along really well too," he admitted with a small smile as he took a bite out of his food and swallowed before talking again. "I'm actually glad he came into my life."

"Did ya hear that mates? Our ankle biter has grown up," Coran declared dramatically as he wiped away a fake tear from his eye. 

"Hey! I'm plenty mature!"

"Uhuh," sarcastically agreed Hunk as he took a bite from his meal.

"Alfor! Help me out here!"

"You should all back off," addressed the chief in a serious tone that quieted the table, whereas Lance stated a relieved, "Thank you!" right before his leader finished his statement, "because he hasn't matured yet."

An eruption of laughter filled the room along with Lance's dramatic flailing as he demanded why he was betrayed so horrendously. Blue soon joined by hopping onto his shoulder out of excitement and almost making his caretaker lose his balance.

Lance just couldn't quiznaking win.

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Keith just wanted to sleep in, even if Red was lying on his face, but he had promised that he'd have breakfast with Allura before heading off to work. So he groaned in frustration and made the effort to get ready earlier than usual and left Red to eat her meal as he headed out the door.

He felt rather odd, not having seen Lance for a while, but maybe it was also because he was trying to sort of avoid him if he ever saw him. Fighting off crush feelings was easier said than done. A part of him, well most of him, wanted to welcome them, whereas a rational part of him was screaming no and to focus on school.

This internal battle was becoming a daily thing and he wasn't sure what to think of it.

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Universe was full of surprises.

Blue had been one of course.

However, before him it had been typically been Nyma pulling the surprises.

Like right now.

It was pretty late in the afternoon when she made her entrance, but it still caught Lance off guard and he was not sure how to take in the scenario. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't I just come by to visit my boyfriend?"

From behind him, his group rolled their eyes at her words, well aware that she was lying. He was about to protest when the alarm went off. Coran checked the location and went to get the truck ready, while the rest of the group got equipped and headed out, Lance included.

"We'll talk when I get back."

"Sure," she said with a sweet smile.

Once he was out of sight, she looked around for where Blue was located. Once she found him, she went to her car to sneak in the carrier she had brought along for her scheme. The grey furred feline merely perked his head from he lay on the table and watched as she entered the room and closed the door behind her. He would've ignored her and moved away from her had it not been for the fact that she brought out some fresh fish out of her bag to offer him.

The smell was intoxicating and he couldn't avoid it, no matter how much he didn't like her still, and before he could realize his situation, he found himself trapped in the carrier. He meowed viciously and even tried to scratch her, but it was of no use. She covered the carrier with the blanket and was rushing out of the firehouse to her car.

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"Soooo, any update on your crush?"

Keith nearly dropped the cans he was trying to restock the shelf with as his cheeks turned to a light shade of pink. His co-worker merely cackled at his reaction and wasn't sorry as usual. Damn Pidge.

"Look-" he started but was cut off by the door bell sounding. He turned around to glance at the new customer, but was taken aback by the very person it turned out to be.

Nyma.

She was standing there with all her confidence sticking out like a sore thumb in the room. He would've looked away, had it not been for the fact that she was holding a cat carrier.

That just happened to have Blue in it.

_ What? Why is he here? Why is he with her? What's going on?! _

He watched as she approached Rolo, his boss, about getting rid of the cat.

"Why don't you just give it to the shelter?"

"Too much of a hassle and they'd probably euthanize him with how aggressively he's tried to hurt me."

"Wait a second…did you just take the cat?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm sick of this thing tying us down."

The purple haired male gave her a skeptical look. "You guys aren't even-"

"Why do you have Blue?" Keith interjected. He hadn't meant to, but he'd overheard the conversation and saw how distressed the grey kitty was from being with such an awful woman.

Her eyes narrowed in on spotting the raven haired male. "How dare you have the nerve to talk to me? Much less interrupt me?"

It was meant to scare him, but she failed to realize that Keith Kogane didn't take shit from anyone. Normally yes at his job, but this was an exception and his crush feelings only fueled his fury.

"When I know for a fact that you stole that cat. It obviously doesn't like you and you probably had to trick it into the carrier. Furthermore, he belongs to Lance."

The blond smiled at him, but it was filled with venom as she walked over and handed the carrier to him, catching him off guard. "Seems like I found someone that can adopt this cat. Whatever your claims were **boy** , I'm pretty sure was just nonsense."

Keith was rather confused, but he was also relieved that Blue was no longer with her. He observed Nyma discuss fervently with Rolo and the look on his boss' face was anything but calm. Pidge came closer and whispered belligerently, " Dude! Are you out of your mind or something?! She's a witch you must never cross."

"Yeah, well I'm me and I couldn't let her do whatever plan she had."

The hazel haired girl made a facepalm and a quiet groan at her friend. He was notorious for being impulsive, but Nyma had a reputation of getting things her way, which is what had her most worried right now. Both watched as she leaned on her right hip and mischievously smiled at her cousin, who had a look of defeat before she gleefully walked out of the store.

Rolo sadly walked over to them and asked Pidge to check inventory before asking Keith to come into his office.

In closing the door, his boss sighed. "Look man, what you did was right and I know you're a hard worker, but my cousin is a demon. She's got some blackmail on me that I can't really do anything about…"

Keith already knew what was coming, but he prayed it wouldn't be true. He had too many loans and bills to pay.

"So my hands are tied and I have to fire you."

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It was too coincidental for the way everything happened.

When the firetruck had arrived on the scene, Lance had to do a double take. The source of the fire was from Nyma's place. Apparently, she'd left something on the stove that caught fire and set off the smoke alarm, but…

_Nyma doesn't cook._

He was still mulling over it and only became more concerned when Blue suddenly wasn't there to greet him upon returning to the firehouse. Lance and the crew had just begun the scavenger hunt when the blond returned with a triumphant smile on her face.

"Where did you go? Also, why do you look so smug?"

"I got rid of him for you Babe. Now it's just us."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up," he said as waved his hands exasperatedly prior to asking, "What the quiznak are you saying?"

"I found him a new home and I got rid of that Keith guy in the process," she said ever so serenely as she took a look at her nails to check for any chips.

Dread suddenly coursed through him as he processed the words.

"Why would you do that?"

His reaction was not what she had wanted and it infuriated her. "That **thing** was holding us back and that Keith person had the nerve to fight me. Plus, I figured that he looked attractive to you, so bonus problem solved."

Lance couldn't believe the absolute bullshit that was leaving Nyma's mouth and the fact that she felt she was in the right was more than enough to make him put his foot down. She immediately noticed when he face turned from perplexed to absolute determination. "We're done. Get out."

She was taken aback by his command, but refused to be the one to lose. "You can't break up with me."

He sighed in getting up and walked towards her. Hope glimmered in her deviant eyes, but it was destroyed with his next choice of words, "I was never yours to begin with."

With that, he walked out, leaving Nyma stunned and defeated.

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Shiro had just started his shift when he found out the devastating news that Keith had lost his job just as his friend was leaving the store with a cat carrier in hand. It was obvious that Rolo hadn't wanted to and Pidge was fuming. She quickly informed him what had gone down and he had to agree that that had been a mess.

He was handling some inventory by the entrance, when a truck pulled up and a firefighter exited from the driver's side. Said person happened to rush into the store like his life depended on it too. Pidge was handling the register and calmly greeted the new customer.

"I'm looking for someone named Keith."

At that she crossed her arms as her face turned stern. "Why do you ask?"

Shiro became rather curious of the stranger and came closer to the register.

The firefighter put a hand behind his neck out of nervousness, "You see-well-it's kinda complicated, but long story short, my bitch of a girlfriend, who is now my ex, told me she got rid of my cat and that she got Keith fired."

"All the more reason why I shouldn't help you."

He held out his hands pleadingly as he continued to claim innocence. "I swear, I didn't know. If I did I would've stopped her."

That wasn't enough to remove the scowl on the hazel haired girl's face.

Shiro sighed. Pidge was very protective of her friends, but had more impulse control than Keith, which if that wasn't the case, she'd be clawing at the firefighter's face by now. He walked over to where they were and piped in, "You're gonna have to work harder to prove your innocence bud. She's not an easy customer."

_*Insert internal facepalm here* I can't believe I'm doing this…_

"If I give you some blackmail material on me, would that help?"

Pidge smirked devilishly, but was rather relieved to see that this person was being honest with her. " I like you. You know the right thing to say and I'll give you a chance; but if you quiznak it up I will murder you myself and make it look like an accident."

Her older friend chuckled beside her at the frightened look the firefighter made, but he agreed nonetheless to her terms, which Shiro found admirable how brave he was being.

"What's your name?" she questioned as she held out her hand. He looked at it and took it. "Lance. Lance McClain."

"Alright Lance, pay up front first and we can get started on getting you to Keith."

The brown haired male gulped, but he wanted to make things right, and so with courage, he pulled out a copy of an embarrassing photo he took year ago on a dare. He was not at all surprised by the laughter that escaped Shiro and Pidge.

"This is a gold mine. Dude, you realize you're giving me godly powers over you right?"

"Trust me, I'm well aware of my future doom."

Joyfully she tucked away the image into her wallet and proceeded to scribble down on a piece of paper an address. "Here," she said as she handed it to him. "This is Allura's address. She's his sister and it's where he'll typically go to sulk whenever he's had a bad day. She's like the walking epitome of optimism."

"Thanks. Really. Now I gotta hope I can be able to find a solution to this."

Shiro's dad mode kicked in. "If you mean well, things should turn out okay. Though, I should warn you, Allura is scarier, so be sure to not lie to her."

_What have I gotten myself into? _he thought as he nodded in understanding.__

____

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"Keith…" probed his sister as she watched him still face planted on the couch. "Please don't suffocate yourself. It would be a pity if I lost my baby brother to a couch."

He said something, but it was muffled by the cushion.

"Mind repeating that without sounding like a pillow stole your voice."

"Ugh," he groaned as he lifted his face and turned sideways, "I said that that doesn't change the fact that I'm jobless."

She sighed as she gently caressed his hair like their mother used to whenever they were troubled by things like this. "Come on, it's not the end of the world. You still have other places you can apply to."

"I guess…"

"You're also very experienced. They won't be able to deny that wherever you apply."

"Meh."

She poked him on the cheek.

"Hey!"

"Does Pretty Boy know your situation?"

"Well, um-about that…"

**DING! DONG!**

Allura looked up rather perplexed. No one ever came at this hour, excluding Keith, unless it was an emergency. She quickly excused herself to answer the door, where she was greeted by a firefighter about the same age of Keith.

He waved awkwardly as he tried to push away the thoughts at how she was incredibly gorgeous and the urge to flirt with her. The firefighter strongly felt he'd be thrown sooner than be likely to see her blush at his lines. He then proceeded to clear his throat before mentioning, "I'm here looking for Keith. My name's Lance."

"Are you his boyfriend?"

Lance almost choked at the sentence and blushed profusely. "What?! No! No, no, no, no, it's not like that! I'm here to apologize for him getting fired."

This confused Allura, but she decided to hear him out before she tried to make any further deductions. "Do clarify please."

So he did, including the part where he gave some blackmail material to Pidge. Still, this didn't answer her first question, so she asked about how he knew her baby brother. The story was the same Keith had told her, except she realized that he had developed a crush on Lance, and wasn't dating him. She sighed tiredly at how her sibling tried so hard to avoid the subject of dating. Nevertheless, what she was observing before her, seemed to be the case of two people crushing on each other. 

She sighed before she ushered Lance inside. "Please come in. I'll show you where he it, but take note, I'll be watching your every move."

"Yes m'am."

Keith remained looking pathetically hopeless on the couch as the silver haired female reentered the room with the firefighter. "Baby brother, you have a guest."

The vet student looked up and said, "Who is it?" before his expression turned to absolute shock in recognizing Lance. Immediately after, he attempted to get up, but made a mistake, so he closed his eyes and braced himself for the horrible landing.

It never happened.

Keith opened his eyes to find himself rescued yet again by Lance, who was rather surprised himself by their position. Both momentarily oblivious to Allura in the room as their faces turned crimson from embarrassment.

"W-w-why are you here? Hell, how'd you even find me?"

The brown haired male couldn't help but smile at how cute the Mullethead looked, though he forced himself to focus and answer his question. "I'm here to apologize," he explained as he helped Keith back onto the couch. "This isn't really my thing, but I wanna make it right because what happened to you wasn't fair."

Said fired person tried his best to be difficult by crossing his arms and looking away. "What about your girlfriend? Wouldn't she be angry knowing you're here?"

"I broke up with her right after this happened."

The raven haired male whirled around to look at Lance who had his hands in his pockets and was staring shyly at the ground. "I can help with whatever you need to pay until you can get another job, but I was gonna offer you dinner as a start for getting you into this mess."

Hearing all that seemed too good to be true, though his older sister pinched his arm to prove that this was happening and to remind her sibling that she was still in the room. 

_ Damn it Allura. You're enjoying this aren't you? _

The smirk on her face said it all.

He sighed and admitted, "Well, I don't really know any good places…"

"Hm…how 'bout I cook you dinner then? Name what you want and I'll make it, though if you want sushi, that's Hunk's expertise."

Keith chuckled. "Sure. I'd like that. Know how to make macaroni and cheese?"

The look that crossed the Pretty Boy's face was pure confidence. "I'll have you know that it's so good, Hunk even asked my hand in marriage."

The siblings snorted at the dramatic pose Lance made in making that statement before he smiled in having lightened the mood. Allura soon moved towards him with a smile that looked to sweet to be innocent. "I should warn you, if you so much as make him upset-"

"Ooooh, don't worry. I've got two others willing to end me if I mess up haha, but thank you for the encouragement," assured the firefighter as he held his hands up in surrender.

She nodded in satisfaction.

"By the way, Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for rescuing Blue. It-um-meant a lot-you doing that I mean," Lance said as he came over to the carrier and greeted his friend. 

"Totally worth the trouble I went through," confessed Keith as he grinned back.

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Blue was so affected from the kidnapping that he dared not leave Lance's side for even a second. It was sweet, but the firefighter felt bad in having failed his ever sweet companion, so he'd called the station and notified them of their mascot being found before requesting if Blue could join them in carrying out emergencies. Chief thankfully understood and granted him permission.

He was just getting the sauce done when the door bell rang. "Coming!" he called as walked to the door wearing a dark blue blouse and black jeans, all while barefooted. He double checks to see that it's Keith, and hurriedly opens the door. "Hey there-wow."

The Mullethead was wearing a rather sleek black coat over himself and Lance couldn't help think how lovely he looked before he mentally slapped himself to invite his date? inside. It had started to snow on his way here, so some of the flecks that had gotten caught in his hair were now melting away. The Pretty Boy fought the urge reach out and caress his hair. Just 'cause…not like he happened to have it bad for the Mullethead.

Keith then took off the coat while saying thanks and fleetingly broke Lance because he realized too late that the coat was a tease compared to how nicely dressed the vet student was underneath. He wore a crimson blouse with matching black jeans and a nice pair of knee high boots. The raven haired male didn't miss Lance gawking, but misunderstood on why. "Yeah…this wasn't intended. Allura forced me to wear this. It probably looks ridiculous."

"What?!" exclaimed the Pretty Boy a little too loudly before he clarified, "I mean, I personally think you look amazing."

A triumphant feeling coursed through Lance as he watched the pink on the Mullethead's cheeks reappear.

"Miiir!"

"Heya—" he cut off as the feline happily jumped over to him and purred against his face, bringing forth a laugh from him.

"I think he'll be forever thankful that you rescued him from that wench."

"Guess so. Guess this also means, you're his permanent owner now huh?"

"Yup. We're buddies for life now."

The Mullethead rolled his eyes in hearing this, especially how unsure the firefighter had been upon their first encounter.

Lance grinned and took Keith's wrist to guide him to the dining table, which happened to be a small island in the kitchen. The touch was meant to be casual, but it felt like electricity was coursing through him and Lance doubted it the static from the cold. He promptly let go and mentioned, "Feel free to take a seat, I'm about to mix the pasta and sauce. I always think it's better fresh on the spot."

"Mmkay," answered the Mullethead as he sat down and caressed the grey feline. He took a few moments to look around the room and notice how there was a lot of work being done to it. "You repair houses?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, it's something to pass the time," explained the firefighter as he brought forward their meals. "I buy old houses, fix 'em up, and then sell them when I'm done."

"Neat," complimented Keith prior to taking a bite out of his meal. The sound of pleasure that escaped him, surprised them both, but Lance felt proud that his food could bring such joy. He then proceeded to bow dramatically, "I'm flattered. Thank you very much."

"Quiznak you."

Lance placed a hand on his chest as he made an offended sound. "My feelings are hurt. How will I ever recover?"

"I can't believe you're an adult that happens to be a firefighter."

"Hey!"

The Mulllethead chuckled at Pretty Boy's childish pout. A few seconds passed before they continued eating and conversed about a variety of things, while Blue had hopped onto the table to enjoy his own meal.

"You don't have to answer this, but what got you into wanting to be a veterinarian?"

Keith pondered for a moment before responding, " Growing up I was really into caring about animals, while my sister was more into crafting things. Our mom was too kind to turn down any strays, so our house was always busy with cats and dogs. Some of them needed more care than others and I was really good at keeping up with all that needed to be done under the vet's orders for them to recover fully. It got to where I could even tell what exactly was wrong and what to do, considering I wasn't even in college yet. I really enjoyed it and when it was time to pick a major, I pretty much felt right at home with doing that, even if classes are tiresome."

Lance chuckled at the last part. "I can imagine. Where is she now? I'd love to meet her."

"Oh…um…car accident…"

"Sorry, that was really rude of me. Didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"No, no, you didn't know. It's okay."

"What about your dad?"

"He was never around, but mom found a way to make up for that either way," he brought up as he chuckled at the recollection of how his mother could be sweet in one instant and be stern the next to make the siblings focus on getting homework done for school. "What about you? What made you become a firefighter?"

"Ah. Well, I didn't grow up in a great household. Parents had their moments, but they were more often fighting each other. It'd get scary and I usually hid under the bed to avoid them. Unfortunately, one time it got so out of hand that a fire started. I didn't know until I saw the smoke building up in my room," he told as a small smile made its way onto his face. "I would've been a goner too if the chief hadn't broken into my bedroom window to pull me out."

"Sounds like he's really taken care of you."

"Yeah, after that incident, my parents divorced and I didn't want to be with either of them. Thankfully I was 18 and didn't need anyone to supervise me. However, that didn't stop the chief from stepping into my life and being the parent that I needed and wanted. Coran is like the awesome uncle and Hunk is like my brother. They all helped me steer into the right direction and taught me that helping others is a pretty nice feeling to have. Our family is perfect to me and now I've even got Blue, a dork who likes perching on my shoulder…and yours apparently."

Keith smiled. If anyone had told him yesterday that he'd be sitting at his supposed-to-not-be-crush's place eating dinner, he would've laughed. Yet, here he was and somehow deeply getting to know Lance, the idiot who somehow made his heart race with almost anything he did.

"Oh, have you finished your finals?"

"Almost. My last one is tomorrow."

"Do you live close by to your school."

"Yeah, sometimes I walk and sometimes I drive, but I think I'll walk this time since I'm gonna be dead tired in the morning."

"Think you're ready?"

"I hope so."

"You seem like a natural at what you do, I think you'll be fine."

"Psh, I think I've sold my soul to satan one too many times to stay awake to study."

"Mullethead, tell me you're getting proper sleep."

"Well, Pretty Boy, I'm managing to get some sleep."

"I can't believe this."

"I can't believe you call me that. At least Pretty Boy makes sense. Are you insulting me when you call me Mullethead?"

Lance gave him a blank look, but then he made a facepalm and started laughing. It only added to the confusion and Keith was more than ready to leave out of aggravation. The firefighter quickly realized his mistake and grabbed his wrist before he could go move away any further. "Trust me…it's not an insult."

"Oh really?"

"I…" he started before he sighed, "I actually was impressed by how well you work a mullet. Like you make it look amazing and you're still attractive, so….yeah…It was never meant to be anything mean. So…will you stay?"

Keith was now blushing profusely at the compliment. It didn't help that Lance could probably feel how fast his heart was pounding, but he quickly realized that the hand seizing his wrist was pulsing at the same rate. The firefighter let go upon the vet student turning around to make eye contact at last before he nodded a yes.

Lance's face lit up like the sky with numerous stars as he happily returned to the table with the Mullethead. "Mind telling me why you nicknamed me Pretty Boy?"

"You're kidding right?"

"Nope."

He groaned, realizing that he had no way around in answering. "I just thought you looked like someone who takes care of himself really well for a firefighter."

"I do indeed."

"I'd ask, but I feel like I'm gonna get a long ass list I don't wanna hear."

Lance wriggled his eyebrows. "You never know, it might be interesting."

"I doubt it."

Keith ended up being wrong. It had been too interesting once the firefighter went into depth about his beauty routine.


	4. Chapter 4

"Look at it this way, you're free now from school."

"I somehow still feel dead inside."

"Didn't you have a nice date yesterday though?"

Keith almost tripped and fell. In regaining his balance he glared at Shiro. "It was not a date."

"Uhuh. Tell that to Allura, who happily dressed you up."

"She's just like that."

" **OR** she figured out your lie and is being uber nice about it."

Keith's form slumped slightly in defeat because he knew Shiro was right. When wasn't he?

"Speak of the devil, you have a visitor."

"The hell are you talking about-" he cut off and froze when he realized that in walking out of the entrance, Lance was there, dressed casually in some light blue jeans, grey high tops, a baseball t-shirt with blue sleeves, and a green opaque jacket with a mixture of some darker green and orange bands on either arm. When the firefighter spotted him, he waved happily.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take you out to celebrate your freedom from finals."

The vet student didn't have to look to tell that his best friend was grinning from ear to ear at the encounter. "You don't have work today?"

"My shift starts late."

"Oh."

"Unless you don't wanna go…"

At that Shiro rolled his eyes and shoved Keith into Lance. "Take him. For the love of god. He needs it anyway."

Lance easily caught him by the shoulders to help steady him. "With pleasure."

"What the quiznak Shiro?!" he demanded as he was led away by his date?

His question was ignored. "Have fun!" yelled his best friend in seeing them off.

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When the pair reached the parking lot, the firefighter noticed that maybe Keith had driven to school. "You walked to school today right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah I did. Wait…"

Lance merely walked ahead towards his truck at a faster pace.

"Hey! Idiot! I'm talking to you! Did you plan this?"

"I can't hear you Mullethead. You're pretty far away right now."

Without thinking, Keith dashed towards him. The Pretty Boy turned around too late to avoid his arm getting snatched. linking him to the Mullethead.

_Quiznak he got me._

"Lance."

"I might've planned this surprise, but you gotta admit it's a nice one," he professed with a mischievous smirk.

"You're ridiculous. Where are you even taking me?"

"I shall take you to the best ice cream place in town."

"Oh really?"

"I guarantee it."

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"You're kidding."

"I'm not. They make it all with liquid nitrogen and it's quiznaking amazing."

"How have I never heard of this place before?"

"Maybe because you were too busy burying your face in a book to look around."

"That…that's actually very true."

Lance grinned like an excited child. "Now pick a flavor. You can even pick multiple if you want. It's my treat after all."

"Hm…" hummed the raven haired male as he stared at the menu of the options available. "I think I'll have cookies and cream. For curiosity I'll try the strawberry one. What about you?"

"I'm gonna get the nutella flavor an birthday cake."

Keith snorted. "You're such a dork."

"You can't judge me."

"I happily will."

"How dare you?!" he protested dramatically before they gave their orders to the person manning the register. Once done they watched eagerly as their orders were made fresh on the spot. When they got their ice cream, they rapidly found a place to sit by the window and chatted about their day. At some point, they even began stealing ice cream from each other to where they cause a bit of mess that brought forth laughter from the two males.

Whenever they were both smiling and made eye contact, they'd blush and look away. It was even more hilarious when a girl came up to them saying that they were a cute couple. They turned into a mess of two idiots try to express words, but managing to only say gibberish instead. It took them a short while to recover, but it was obvious that they were still very much flustered by the comment. The awkward silence was soon broken when they got into Lance's car and some awful Christmas music was playing.

"I think my ears are bleeding."

"You and me both buddy. Sometimes there's good stuff to listen to and sometimes I find myself contemplating life."

"What's your favorite Christmas song?"

"Hm…Greatest Time of Year by Aly & AJ. You?"

"Carol of the Bells by BarlowGirl hands down."

"As much as I wanna make fun of you for that song, I can't. I actually really like their version too."

Keith smiled victoriously from the passenger seat.

"Quit looking so smug Mullethead."

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Keith was enjoying Lance's company, but the moment was shattered as they walked towards his apartment.

Because the door was open.

"Shit!"

"What's wrong?"

"She found Red," he quickly answered as he rushed inside to find Haggar by the kitchen counter writing up the eviction form. She turned around hearing someone enter, but her face turned to disappointed when she recognized Keith. "I knew you were hiding something boy. The plumber came in to check the sink and guess what they found?"

He sighed. He didn't need this right now. "Where is she?"

"I put her in the back," she responded flatly as the male moved past her to retrieve his precious cat. When he reentered the room with Red, the older woman had a lecture ready to throw at him for messing up so badly. "This is a clear violation of Galra Arms by-law. It's a class two infraction which is clearly spelled out-"

"I assume you gave this tenant a 48-hour notice before service personnel entered the residence?"

The old woman was surprised by the interruption. She hadn't planned for this. "I-I'm not sure-"

"What about fire codes?" asked the firefighter as he pulled out his hard earned badge. "Are you up to date on the 456 fire codes pertaining to apartment buildings? And the mandatory by-laws stipulated in the states statutes? I'll be back next week to make sure you're in compliance with each and every state and city fire code."

Haggar was speechless.

"Hope I won't have to write you a 777. Shut down your apartment building," he said gravely with his hands on his hips. Within an instant, the landlady rushed out the door with a speed that not even Keith had ever seen her move with.

"You sure know how to put on a show."

"I do my best," he replied with a bow.

"Really though, thank you Lance."

The firefighter grinned proudly. "Anytime. Though, I don't think I can save you from getting evicted; but I mean…" he trailed off as he put a hand behind his head anxiously. Unsure as to whether he should continue.

"I can ask Allura, but she owns pet mice and Red might go after them while we're not looking. So…yeah…"

"Comelivewithme."

"What?"

"Sorry-uh-I mean to say-um-come live with me?" he managed to say with a more leveled voice as he fought to not break eye contact with the vet student, who was turning a light shade of red from surprise.

Keith finally managed to murmur a yes before they set to work on packing up.

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The place had been furnished, so the Mullethead's belongings were actually fewer, but still easy enough to put in the back of Lance's truck. Keith followed him with his car to the house and parked next to the truck in the driveway.

For the nth time he asked, "Are you sure this is okay?" as he got out of the car and entered the house with Red.

"Yes Keith, besides, there's an apartment upstairs you can use. It's the least I can do. Bonus, rent is just helping around the house and keeping a cat," he said with wink and a dorky smile.

He chuckled at the firefighter's remark. "Guess I'm all set then," he declared before looking around for a moment. "Where's Blue?"

"Oh, I left him at the firehouse. He's too traumatized by Nyma to be left alone nowadays and the crew loves him."

"Hope he and Red can get along when he's home."

"Me too. Now, let's get your stuff 'cause my shift starts soon."

It didn't take too long for them to bring in all the items, so there was enough time for Lance to even help him unpack.

While he opened the door to head out he said, "Sorry that I have to leave you alone for the day, but you're welcome to do whatever you want around the house, just don't start a fire please."

"Hmm…guess I'll do the last one."

"Keith? Buddy? Pal? Please no."

The raven haired male burst into a fit of laughter at the look of horror on Lance's face before the Pretty Boy stormed out at having been tricked into worry.

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"YOU WHAT?!"

"Holy shit Hunk, could you be any louder?!"

"Don't you turn this on me. You invited an attractive guy to live in your home. How is it not obvious that you like him?!"

They were washing down the trucks when Coran entered the area. "What's with all the commotion men?"

"Lance invited his crush to live with him," he said flatly while pointing at his best friend.

"THAT'S OUT OF CONTEXT!"

The ginger haired Australian stroked his mustache thoughtfully as he watched the two bicker. "Well, I can't disagree with him. S'rry Lance."

"Augh! Why are you all against me?"

"It's not our fault that you can be such a dill sometimes mate."

"Ouch. My feelings Coran. My heart!"

The larger male rolled his eyes at the Drama Queen when he spotted Alfor enter the area holding Blue. "Hey Chief, wanna join the side that says Lance has a crush on Keith."

"Are you all referring to the young man he met at the market?"

"The very same."

The lean male was groaning next to Hunk at how he found himself cornered yet again. There weren't really any secrets he could keep from his family and they also knew how much he liked to talk. So they were often caught up with the events in his life.

Like now.

"And Lance asked him to live with him?"

"OUT OF CONTEXT I TELL YOU!"

"Yup he v'ry much did."

Alfor merely chuckled and Lance continued to freak out over how no one was believing him.

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Keith had been rather occupied unpacking his things, but he soon got bored and explored the house with Red. When he came across the living room that was being painted violet, he decided to take it upon himself to finish painting it as well as arranging some of the heavy furniture in the room.

Hours had passed while he got lost in the rhythm of moving the paint roller up and down along the wall. He took a break in between to cook some food for himself and Red before continuing. By the time he was doing the last section of the room, Lance arrived home with Blue perched on him. "Wow."

"Hey."

"You sure know how to layer it evenly and wait…did you rearrange this furniture on your own Mullethead? How?"

The vet student shrugged, but smiled as he said, "I had to do a lot of heavy lifting growing up whenever our small family moved around. It's nothing new."

"Seriously though, you arranged them all nicely. Actually, you arranged them how I had intended to in my plans for this room. Are you a mind reader?"

"I don't think so, but seems like I'm pretty good at this huh?"

"Too good and-Is that food I smell?"

"You're not the only one that cooks Pretty Boy," he said with a proud grin that if Lance hadn't been on guard, it would've melted him on the spot.

The firefighter was about to protest when Blue jumped off him to approach Red, who was lying peacefully on one of the couches. Both owners froze and prayed a cat fight wouldn't ensue as the grey furred feline approached the orange cat. She'd been eying him while Lance had been talking to Keith and because intrigued when Blue decided to come closer. The two kitties sniffed each cautiously before Red gave her approval as well as Blue, who proceeded to lie down next to her.

Both Lance and Keith let out a sigh of relief. The raven haired male decided to finish up painting the wall while Lance lied on another couch to quietly watch him. "Nothing to say today? You're usually talkative."

The firefighter chuckled. "Well, it has been a long day and we did get called out for a pretty ridiculous emergency, so I'm kinda tired."

"Oh really?"

"Yup."

"What happened if you don't mind me asking?"

"Someone left a lit scented candle by a printer that was filled with copy paper. Oh and this candle wasn't encased by glass. Guess what happened."

"Are you serious? Oh my quiznaking god, I can't believe what I'm hearing."

"We actually keep a book at the station called "How to Not Start a Fire," where we add all the ridiculous stories that we come across when doing our jobs."

"Sounds like it's worth a read."

"Oh trust me, not a day goes by where we don't read something from it. It's great and keep the station lively when it's got quiet days."

"Hm…'kay, I think I'm done," claimed the Mullethead as he put down the paint roller. "I haven't eaten dinner yet, wanna join me?"

Lance's slightly dark skin wasn't enough to hide the pink that settled on his cheeks. "Y-yeah, that'd be nice."


	5. Chapter 5

_**1 week later…**_

It was a nice dynamic they had going and it became the norm for either of them to cook something for the small household and do things around the house. It was either Keith or both him and Lance while their cats took pleasure in the company of the other. What was more interesting was how there was almost never a instant where they didn't have a cute bonding moment.

Now it was morning of another day and the instant Keith had sent the text to Allura that morning regarding his living situation, the last thing he had expected was to hear a knock at the door about 30 minutes later.

Lance had just woken up and yawned as he approached the door with Blue on him of course. He had already removed the face mask from the night before and was wearing a nicely designed royal blue robe with some golden outlines on them, a pajama set with the same design, and blue lion slippers. In looking through the little window of the door, he recognized Allura and opened it. "Morning?"

"I'm here to check on my baby brother."

"Then feel free to come in."

She entered and was guided to Keith's room. The silver haired female knocked on his door. "Keith, it's me."

They both heard him groan from inside the room before he opened the door wearing a more casual set of red pajamas. "Really Allura?"

Lance fought hard to not be overwhelmed by how adorable Keith looked with bed hair, so he turned away quickly as the siblings discussed with each other and went to make breakfast. Not long after he started cooking, the door was knocked on again. "The hell?"

He was greeted by Shiro, Pidge, and someone who looked to be an older version of her.

"Oh come on! Seriously?"

"Well, Keith is like the child of our group," replied Pidge calmly.

"Pidge you're obviously younger," retorted the firefighter with a deadpan stare.

"But I'm wiser, so that technically makes me older."

"Keith is also more innocent. I'm Matt by the way, Pidge's older brother," quietly added the sibling as Lance made a facepalm.

"Oh my quiznaking god, I'm not gonna harm the innocent child. Is no one on my side?!"

"Maybe Nationwide is," responded the hazel haired girl as she grinned proudly before Shrio ruffled her hair.

"I can't believe I just got memed. I'm done. Come inside. Do whatever. I'm just gonna finish making breakfast before I unintentionally start a fire, which would be too quinzaking ironic."

Keith by then had come downstairs with Red on his shoulders and Allura next to him, while the firefighter rushed back to the kitchen murmuring how he felt like he was being marked as the antagonist of some story with how no one seemed to take him seriously. Then the vet student understood what had gotten him so worked up. "Seriously? Did Allura call you?"

The two friends that had just entered laughed nervously as he sighed in disbelief. "We were just worried," added Shiro.

"Yeah, I noticed dad."

Pidge and Matt snickered.

"Well, it's not exactly normal to sleepover someone else's house right after losing your place and getting fired," pitched in his sister as she stared at him a little too intensely.

"Tell that to the universe," retorted Keith as reach the bottom of the stairs.

"Are you all going to chit chat and leave soon? Or am I going to have to prepare more food? Please don't tell me you all skipped breakfast to check in on Keith," called Lance from the kitchen along with the sound of food sizzling on some pans.

Silence followed and the Mullethead made a facepalm at them all. 

"All of you pay me 5 dollars for breakfast, except Keith."

The shouts of protest were too priceless to not laugh at. When the firefighter threatened to not make any food at all for them, they quieted and soon everyone was at the dining table Keith had set up the day before, excited to see what the Pretty Boy would prepare. Surprisingly, he seemed quite skilled in making a lot of food for a large group of people and Keith found himself staring a little too long as Lance worked. The group of course would throw looks at him saying that he couldn't deny his feelings for him.

He was at his limit when Lance finally served the food, impressing his guests. Blue by then had been introduced to everyone, so he was rather cheery to have more nice people caress him.

"Dude, this looks amazing. Where did you get the skills to do this in a short amount of time?" probed Pidge as she took a bite out of her food and made a pleasant noise, though it wasn't like Keith's during dinner the other night. 

Lance beamed at the praise. "When you have a lot of mouths to feed at the station, making a lot becomes the norm. The whole station is into freshly made stuff, so we don't really get take out unless necessary."

He casually took his seat by Keith and began eating too as everyone dove into different topics from war stories at their jobs to current projects they were working on. Allura sewed and crafed items for a living, so she was skilled in cosplay and when Lance found out, he turned into an ecstatic child. The Mullethead was rather relieved that he and the Pretty Boy had similar interests, even though they were usually occupied with responsibilities. Pidge had a hobby of tinkering with tech, which Lance easily declared was something that would allow her and Hunk to become easy friends. Matt and Shiro had a hobby of building bikes whenever they could spare the time. Keith would pitch in sometimes, but school again often kept him away. It was overall a rather interesting experience of breakfast bonding.

Allura sometime after grew stern and demanded, "How come you don't have a Christmas tree?"

Lance blinked a few times. "Um…"

"Come on you two. Get dressed. We're getting this place a Christmas tree," ordered Shiro as he began helping pick up the empty plates to put in the sink and wash. It was surprising how well he could do things so casually with the prosthetic that he had. Almost as if he hadn't lost an arm years ago to a bike accident.

"Agreed. Don't take long either. We need the time to pick a perfect tree," pitched in Allura. Her grace ever mesmerizing and ever strong. Without a chance to protest Lance and Keith were kicked out of the kitchen to get ready for yet another adventure with this crazy family.

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The trip to the Christmas tree lot was one thing, but the bickering that ensued on how to pick the perfect tree was another and it was pretty hilarious to watch. Lance often had a similar experience with his group from the station, but this was a whole 'nother level of chaos.

Pidge and Matt focused on which one would last longer, they didn't care much for how pretty it was. While the health of the tree mattered, Shiro and Allura had a preference for very wide trees. Lance was rather unsure of what to think, but he found himself being led by Keith through the lot to find what he felt was the perfect tree.

"Sorry about them. It's usually like this every year."

"I'm surprised I never met you till this month."

At that the Mullethead laughed before pausing, feeling surer that they weren't within hearing range of the madness. "Same. Hm…what do you think of this?" he asked as he put his attention towards a particular tree.

"I don't really know honestly. My parent issues happened around Christmas time, so I never really participate in this stuff. My family at the station usually take into doing this. I usually opt out."

"What changed this time?"

"Aside from the obvious of being dragged here by your group."

"That's a good point, but I mean like…"

"Hm?" hummed Lance as he waited for the Mullethead to continue. "Keith?"

"Like what made you willing to come with me now?"

_ Smooth Keith. Now you probably made things really awkward. _

"Oh."

"Sorry. Forget I even asked."

"No, no, that came out wrong. I'm just…sorta surprised at myself too. I guess, you make it different? Not like a bad different! It's a-it's a-it's a good different and I'm pretty comfortable with it," he struggled to say as he felt his heart rate go faster and a sudden warmth course through him.

Why does he make me feel like this? I mean he's gorgeous and he's got a great personality, but- 

His thoughts derailed when he looked up to see Keith smiling at him, but it wasn’t just any smile, it was the type that had a radiance that only few could ever earn the right to see and right now Lance had become one of those few.

I think I died. This is too good to be real. Lance, get it together before you collapse into his arms—although that would be nice—NOT THE POINT *Insert internal facepalm here*

"Lance? You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine."

The Mullethead quirked an eyebrow at the Pretty Boy. "If you say so."

"I do have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Would you do me the honor of revealing to me your secrets to picking the perfect tree?"

"Eh."

"Hey! I asked nicely!"

The vet student laughed before he finally decided to provide an explanation, "Alright, ease up Pretty Boy, I'll tell you."

Lance's pout was too cute to be considered fair to look at it and not die from. However the Mullethead fought hard to keep his composure and from reaching out to put a hand on his cheek.

_ *Insert mental face slap here* Keith. No. Stop thinking these thoughts. Tree picking. Go. _

"I usually test how soft the leaves are, that typically indicates how fresh they are like this one," he indicated as he guided Lance's hand towards it.

"Wow. I always thought they were prickly."

"That's typically true when they're start to dry up."

"Ah."

"Mhm, the next thing I do is check the branches, if they're weak then they're pretty useless for lights and decorations," he continued as he stuck his arm between the branches to check their thickness and sturdiness. Lance remained intrigued.

"I like proportions, probably because of my sister, so I try and make sure it's more or less symmetrical from almost any side," he mentioned as he pulled the firefight along to circle the tree that currently held their interest. "Keeping up so far?"

Lance nodded. It was actually a fun process.

"The last step is my favorite. If the tree passes the first three, then this last step decides if it's the one. Smell the tree."

As silly as the brown haired male felt, he complied anyway and was rewarded with a glorious smell of pine. Without noticing, Keith had joined him and when they moved away from the tree they were grinning at each other from ear to ear.

This was the perfect tree.

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In returning to the house, they had a party with Keith's Christmas decorations, however Lance had to head out for his shift. Blue seemed rather comfortable chilling with Red, so he left him home for the day and also left Allura in charge of decorating the house.

He hadn't expected to already have such a good dynamic with Keith's family, but it was altogether quite nice. Once he left, Allura hollered out orders on what should go where and everyone scrambled to keep up. The morning soon shifted to the afternoon, so they had to start leaving for work themselves.

The older sister had one last decoration to put before she headed home to work on a commission. It was part of a devious plan she had come up and was sure that Lance and Keith would thank her for later. When her work was done, she joyfully climbed down the stepstool and left. Leaving the two kitties cuddling and her baby brother lying on the couch by the entrance, distracted with reading some fanfiction on his phone.

It wasn't until hours later that the Mullethead heard the door open and he greeted his roommate home.

Said roommate however was eerily silent.

"Uh Keith?"

"Yeah?" he replied without looking up from his phone.

"Please don't punch me for what I'm about to do?"

"Why?"

"I'm currently confronted by mistletoe at the top of banister, so by the laws off Christmas…um…yeah…"

Keith nearly dropped his phone inquickly turned red, but managed to say, "Yeah…yeah, I know the rules. It's fine," thinking that he'd just get a kiss on the cheek to signify they were friends.

Again, universe proved him wrong when Lance's lips met his own. The sensation was all at once blissful and overwhelming. Yet, before Keith could relish in it more, the moment ended when Lance pulled away. A proud smile plastered on his face that matched the sparkle in his mesmerizing Mediterranean blue eyes as he said the next words, "Did I steal your first kiss?"

Without a second thought, the Mullethead threw a pillow at the Pretty Boy to shut him up.

Then he proceeded to hide his face in his hands, trying very hard to ignore the fact that his whole body felt like it was on fire.

_ Quiznak me. I don't just like him. I'm quiznaking falling for him. QUIZNAK! _


	6. Chapter 6

_Quiznak._

 

_Quiznaking Quiznak._

 

_I'm so quiznaked._

 

"Lance, why are you lying face up on the floor?"

He looked to his right to see Hunk with an expression that was a mixture of concern and disbelief. Alfor and Coran were also within range, though they looked rather unsurprised. Blue meanwhile, was cuddled on Lance's chest.

"Kill me please because I have feelings."

"No," they all said in unison.

"Jeez, okay. I was joking alright. About the killing part at least, but not the feelings part."

His best friend took the liberty to sit down next to him cross-legged. "Seriously bro, what's wrong? I know it's Keith, but you're usually flying around on cloud nine."

Lance moaned as if in agony.

"Mate, you alr'dy know that when y're in one those states, we can't leave ya alone. So tell."

He moaned again before he forced the words out of his mouth. "I kissed him."

"Dude what?!"

"You what?!"

"Lance, tell us what happened?" spoke up Alfor, who always seemed to know what to say sometimes.

"Mistletoe. That's what."

"So you kissed him on the cheek dude, no big—oh **shit you didn't**!"

As if it would shield him from shame, the lean male tried to hide his face with the back of one of his arms. "Just let me die."

"No," they said again in unison as they made a deadpan stare at him.

Hunk sighed. "You've have it bad for him. We all know it."

Lance grunted as if angry with himself. "What am I even doing?"

The Chief sighed as he crouched down to remove his arm from his face with little resistance. "Son, just because your parents weren't happy doesn't mean you're fated to not be happy either. We've seen how Keith has influenced you and none of it has been for the worse."

He sighed because his father figure was right.

Coran stepped in too. "Just be y'rself Lance and tell him. He v'ry much likes you too, so it should turn out just fine."

No way out of this now.

"Okay," he agreed, hesitation slightly present in voice. "I'll tell him tonight then. I need to get my thoughts together in the meantime."

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Some hours passed and Keith for some random reason decided he wanted to surprise Lance at the fire station. It wasn't too far from his house, but he drove anyway and parked out of sight to walk the rest of the way to it.

He wanted to ask him about last night. It had been too surreal and he wanted to be sure of where "this" was going to go before he allowed his emotions to drown him any further. There hadn't been an opportunity to ask in the morning, since Lance's shift started earlier than usual.

Now here he was.

The garage doors that led to the trucks were open as usual and it was hard to miss Lance's voice. Then again, the Mullethead had probably engrained it into his hearing memory. He was going to reveal himself when he caught wind of a conversation. "-that's just Keith. Him I never loved that way." 

Dread started to fill his insides.

"Really mate?"

"I mean we've known each other long enough, but I've always seen him as my brother. Nothing more."

Without a word, Keith left. Furious and saddened for having let himself hope at all.

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Red happily meowed in seeing her owner arrive, who halfheartedly caught her, which alarmed the feline. He'd been so excited today and now she could sense his negative mood as he hurriedly gathered his things, which all somehow managed to fit in his car.

"Miirow?"

"Sorry Red, I know I've probably worried you, but I can't really explain right now."

Keith knew that he still hadn't found a job, but he'd gotten an email that morning about an apartment for lease. He hadn't immediately taken up the offer because of his hope regarding Lance, but that had changed drastically, so he quickly called to check if it was still available. Luckily it was, so he claimed it and made an appointment with the owner to sign the lease.

As much as he wanted to leave without a word, Keith couldn't help but leave a note saying thank you for everything and that he'd found a new place to live in for the meantime. He even added that he had enough in his savings to last him a few months, while he looked for a job. 

With that done, he walked out and tried to move on with his life.

~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊

Lance was scared? No, worried was a better term for the sensation he got in entering the house. It was strangely quiet. Normally, Red would greet him and Blue, but nothing.

Then he saw it.

Laying on the kitchen counter was a small note, which read:

_Hey Lance,_

_I found a new apartment to live in and took up the offer this morning. I'll still be looking for a job, but my current savings should keep me afloat till I get one. Thanks for everything_

_Sincerely,_

_Keith_

It all felt wrong.

This didn't even feel real.

Blue snapped him out of his minor panic and Lance tried to keep it together. He had to. There was no way he was letting this opportunity slip. Not when he'd struggled so hard to come to terms with his feelings.

He hoped that maybe he could call him, but when he kept immediately getting voicemail, he had a feeling that his phone was turned off.

_Damn it Keith! Where could you have gone?! This isn't like you!_

Taking a deep breath, he tried to deduct where to start, and headed off with Blue. 

His first try was at Allura's place, but she was rather shocked to learn from Lance that he'd left so suddenly. "You mean he didn't say anything?"

"No. Normally he tells me where he's going, but when he doesn't, he usually wants to be alone when he's upset about something."

"I don't get it, what would he be upset about? I thought everything was fine."

She narrowed her eyes on him. "Did you kiss?"

"What?!"

"Did you kiss?"

_No point in hiding it. We both realized that the kiss was her plan._

"Yes."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Did either of you say anything?"

"Not really, but we weren't upset about it?"

She groaned. "You two are so bad confronting things. I might as well have locked you up in a room until you both professed your feelings."

He wasn't sure how to take this information as he raised his hands in surrender. "Um…"

"Let's go find the others. They may have some clue of his location and if not, we'll give Pidge permission to hack his phone."

"Yes ma'm."

~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊

Pidge and Matt looked up from doing inventory an hour before the store closed, and nearly dropped their stuff when they learned of Keith's sudden departure.

"Is he nuts?"

"Matt, you do realize this is Keith we're talking about."

"Eh, I mean—yeeeeaaaah you're right."

"What do you mean?" asked Lance as he tried not to go scavenger hunt the whole town for the Mullethead.

"Recall how we said that he is the child of our group? Impulse practically rules his rationality whenever he's unsure or upset about something."

"But that still doesn't explain why he just up and left without a word," mentioned the older sister as she crossed her arms in thought of possible reasons. "He hasn't answered any of my calls or that of Lance's either. I think he turned off his phone and removed the battery."

"Shit…he probably learned from last time."

"Pidge. Language," muttered Allura as she heard the hazel haired girl groan in annoyance.

"Last time?" asked the firefighter, who was still trying hard to not lose himself to panic.

"It doesn't matter, I can still track it because it has a chip. It'll just take longer. Augh!"

Shiro appeared from the back of the store, looking quite frenzied, "Any luck?"

"I'm about to hack his phone and he better be thankful for why I'm doing this," she said casually eying Lance from the corner of her eye.

"Why are you giving me a look?"

"No need to hold back dude. I've been calling Keith Lover Boy, ever since he mentioned you."

"What?!"

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be needing about 30 minutes to an hour to get this done. Matt can you cover me?"

"Sure thing, but this means I get the last of the ice cream cake in the fridge."

"Quiznak!"

"Language Pidge," said Shiro and Allura in unison. It was rather hilarious how they easily took the roles of parents like it was second nature to them.

"Soooo…since we have time. Mind briefing us about your kiss?"

The astonished looks from Shiro and Matt were rather priceless in Allura casually bringing this up. "You never specified how it got there."

Lance really wished there were customers to distract the other two, but universe was somehow happily putting him on the spot everytime he really didn't want to be. The Pretty Boy groaned in frustration as he found himself trapped yet again and prepared himself for the tease.

Pidge returned not long after to find the brown haired male being reassured for the nth time that the likely scenario was that it had been a giant misunderstanding of some sort.

"Found him guys."

~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊

He would've just gone in his truck, but the traffic had become horrible with Christmas being three days away, so he opted to borrow one of the firetrucks.

Introducing Keith's family to his was a rather interesting event that should've happened sooner, though once things settled down, the Chief gave him a hard stare at his idea before giving in.

"It better return in pristine condition."

"Yes sir!"

"Don't forget to kiss him!" shouted Pidge teasingly with an all knowing smirk. "Oh, and his location has changed since we located him an hour ago."

"Thanks. Really. I owe you one again."

"Consider us even for this. He's never been this happy in a long time and we have you to thank for that," she mentioned while holding Blue as Matt, Shiro, and Allura nodded in agreement. 

"When you get him, bring him back here mate so we can thank him for doing the same for you," brought up Coran as he and Alfor smiled joyously.

"I'll even prepare an awesome meal!" exclaimed Hunk as he passionately punched his fist into his other hand and everyone burst into laughter.

Lance turned before he could reveal the tears that were brimming in his eyes. He really couldn't have been blessed with a better family.

~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊~̊

By the time he was halfway to wherever Keith was, it had started to snow again. Thank goodness the truck had been prepared for the weather and that the siren cleared away traffic very quickly as he rushed to reach the Mullethead.

The Pretty Boy was rather surprised to see that his location was at a park, but then he spotted something familiar in the darkness with the little light from the lamp posts in the area.

_I'd recognize that mullet anywhere._

He shut off the siren, but left the lights as he parked the truck. Keith turned around from the bench he was sitting on and panic flashed across his face when he recognized Lance before it turned to anger. " How the quiznak did you even find me?"

"Easy answer: Pidge and yes, she found a way to find you, even though your phone was off, but that's not the point. Can we talk?"

"I don't want to talk to you," he spat out as he got up and began to walk away.

"Wait—KEITH!" Lance shouted as he saw that Keith had turned his fast walking into a dash. "Oh for the love of…" he trailed off as he picked up his speed to catch up. "GET BACK HERE!"

"QUIZNAK OFF LANCE!"

"DUDE! WHAT DID I DO?!"

"FIGURE IT OUT IDIOT!"

"QUIT BEING DIFFICULT MULLETHEAD!"

"YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!"

The bickering and running in circles went on for a good twenty minutes till the firefighter found an instant where he was close enough to jump at Keith, trapping him in an embrace as they fell onto the ground. It was of course, not painless.

Lance groaned in sitting up. The vet student was still a little disoriented, yet he fought to get away. It wasn't enough, since the Pretty Boy had taken the liberty to link their arms in recovering. "What is your quiznaking problem?! I just want to know for crying out loud!"

A tired sigh left Keith as he turned to look at the firefighter. "You wanna do this? Fine. I'm pissed at you because you talked shit about me."

"WHAT?!"

"I heard you at the firehouse. I was gonna surprise you and ask about…what happened yesterday…but then I heard you say how you didn't ever love me more than just as a brother. So you try explaining to me why I shouldn't be quiznaking mad!"

Lance just stared at him with a blank look before he figured out the situation and made a facepalm so fast and hard that he ended up slapping his face in disbelief. "Keith. Trust me. That's not what it was."

"Then what was it?!"

"I can't believe I'm doing this through a misunderstanding…"

"Lance for the love of god, I will punch you if you don't explain in 5 seconds!"

"Coran asked me if I had ever fallen for anyone before like maybe Hunk, but I said no, that's just Keith. Then I pointed to Hunk, who was standing next to me and said that I've always loved him as my brother."

It took a few seconds for it to sink in. "D-d-d-d-d-did you just confess to me?!"

Lance tiredly rested his head on Keith's shoulder. "That's why I said what I said earlier Mullethead."

Silence followed with just the sound of their synced breathing and snowfall before Keith managed to find his voice again. "I fell for you too Pretty Boy."

He felt Lance move, except not to get up; but to embrace him with all the warmth he had to offer. Keith melted into the hug and breathed in his scent, not realizing till then how much he'd missed it since suddenly leaving earlier that day. "I missed you…"

"Missed you too Keith, but we're home now."


	7. Epilogue

Blue and Red were more than happy to be reunited. They didn't go anywhere without the other now, unless they were with their owners or with a member of the now immense family. It was rather ridiculous to believe that this whole situation wouldn't have happened if the grey feline hadn't popped into Lance's life the way he had. Regardless, there were no regrets from his owner, who was happily cuddling with Red's owner on one of the couches.

The couple were more than happy to just lay there forever and rest up from last night's events, but they knew that there was no escaping Allura and her orders to help around the house or Shiro's for that matter. Alfor was also part of that group now.

"Get your lazy bums off that couch and start helping you lovey dovey dorks!"

They groaned in unison.

"I don't think I can move. My legs are numb from chasing this cute boy last night," called back Lance as he got lightly slapped on the shoulder by said cute boy.

"You're a trained firefighter. This is nothing," addressed the Chief as he appeared from the kitchen drying off a plate with a teasing smile.

"HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ME LIKE THIS?!"

"Ooooh Lance got called out by older dad!" pointed out Pidge.

Alfor merely chuckled and walked back inside.

The Mullethead thought maybe he was safe until he heard, "You may be on school break, but you should help out in the kitchen too Keith."

"Damn it…" he murmured and he snuggled closer to the Pretty Boy, his head contentedly resting on Lance's chest. Taking pleasure in the warmth he felt from it along with the soothing sound of his heartbeat. "I don't wanna gooo…"

"And here I thought I was the dramatic one. You really are the innocent child of your family."

"Quiznak you."

Lance took the liberty to caress his hair for a little longer and kissed his forehead, never missing the adorable pink shade that dusted his boyfriend's cheeks. 

"Allura's gonna probably drag you both by the leg if you don't get up soon," notified Matt as he placed some gifts under the tree. "Can't deny that you both look adorable though," he admitted before walking out of the room.

"On the count of 3, we'll get up."

"Do you mean at 3 we get up or after 3 or right before 3?"

"Hm…I guess after."

_1…_

_2…_

_3!_

The world spun for a bit from the sudden blood flow, but they recovered quickly and made their way to kitchen, all while holding hands. Upon entering, they were met with click sounds of camera phones going off.

"Seriously guys?" questioned the firefighter flatly at how ridiculous they were being over them being together now.

"It's a historical moment mate. It has to be recorded for the future."

"Coran…why are you like this?"

"I am the awesome uncle after all. I have ev'ry right to do this."

Keith snorted beside him and Lance was elated that he could get to hear it more often now. "That's…actually true."

"I'm so thrilled that my baby brother managed to find someone in that busy of life of his," she said euphorically as she cupped his face in her hands. "Pink may also be a permanent color on your face from now on I think."

At think the Mullethead turned several shades of red and Lance adored the switch of embarrassment, which only got better when several others took pictures. Keith was rather empowered to steal their phones and destroy them, so Lance kept hold of him for a while, not that he ever wanted to let go in the first place. Once the Mullethead had calmed down, the Pretty Boy led them to help out Hunk with prepping food. 

They were assigned to cut up stuff. Nevertheless, chopping vegetables suddenly became a contest, even though Shiro and Alfor were constantly warning the couple to be careful of getting cut. Allura merely sighed at how well they got along for the most ridiculous of things. Matt was cheering for Lance, while his sister cheered for Keith. Coran occupied himself with filming the competition. Hunk was indifferent since it was helping prepare the meals he had planned for everyone. 

It turned out to be a tie and although they were ready for another round to settle the score, there was nothing left to cut up.

"Drat," muttered Pidge as she resumed helping wash the dishes with Matt, who soon began discussing with her how differently they held the knives while racing to out chop the other.

Whenever there was an opportunity, Keith would steal a kiss from Lance and vice versa. It was quite cute that even Allura couldn't help but stare with a smile. When they weren't being adorable, they'd make faces at each other, which eventually dragged in mostly everyone else into doing so too. 

After some hours passed, it was finally time to start baking and this time Shiro and Alfor were taking the lead on what they could all prepare. Hunk of course threw in some options of his own and after some debate, they settled on making Alfor's magical sugar cookies, Shiro's famous chocolate chip cookies, and Hunk dark chocolate brownies. Coran reminded them that hot chocolate was tradition, so he took the liberty to prepare fresh batches of the beverages for everyone to enjoy.

Pidge made a sound of bliss as she took a sip. "How have I not been blesses by this greatness sooner?"

Everyone else made overjoyed sounds too in drinking from their mugs. Even if some had already tried it before, the taste remained beyond spectacular.

Coran chuckled, but was thankful nonetheless for the praise they showered him with. Now that everyone was reenergized, the large dysfunctional family set to work on baking. They started with the brownies, which were less tedious to make and then to the chocolate chip cookies. In the midst of putting the dough on the tray, they all entered a competition on who could roll up the dough into the prettiest spheres, no thanks to Pidge.

Allura, Shiro, Keith, and Hunk ended up being tied as the winners. Lance didn't stand a chance, but he happily watched as Keith put a lot of focus into shaping the dough he had gotten for the challenge. When his boyfriend was declared a winner, he proceeded to reward him with lovely kiss.

The sugar cookies were what, by some miracle, Lance had the expertise and patience for. He was really good at recognizing what the dough needed in prepping it because of the hundreds of times the Chief had him help out in making it over the years. It had been one of the few things he looked forward to during the holidays and now he had a lot to look forward to everyday because of Keith.

His lover observed him with those mesmerizing violet eyes as he worked out the dough to the proper consistency. Lance then smiled and urged Keith to try with another batch. He struggled and got frustrated with how sticky it got, leaving him pouting like a 5 year old. An unfair cuteness that murdered Lance on the spot because he literally said, "I'm dead," and proceeded to lie face up on the floor as if it were his grave. Allura, Shiro, Matt, and Pidge were rather surprised by the sudden action, but Keith and everyone else assured them that this was normal as they laughed at the situation.

"Resident Drama Queen of the station is what I say," raised Hunk as he shook his head in disbelief at the recollection of too many things Lance had been dramatic over. "It never gets old though."

"Does no one care that I died?"

"You're still talking, so maybe you're not really dead," suggested Matt as he greeted Red and Blue entering the room. Upon coming across Lance, the two agreed to cuddle on him. "Really? Gee thanks you two. I've never felt more unloved than now."

"Get up you idiot."

"Shush you murderer. I am trying to rest."

"What did I even do?"

"Be too cute for this world. My heart couldn't take it."

"Guess, no food for you then."

"WHAT?! WAIT! NO! I'M ALIVE! SEE?!" he claimed as he pushed off their cats and got up like nothing happened.

"Sorry I don't think you're alive just yet Lance."

"Oh come on, I-" he cut off when soft lips met his and he really couldn't have felt more alive than that.

When his boyfriend pulled away, he wore a proud grin. "There we go."

"Quiznak you!"

Everyone laughed at how they interacted while they continued to prep the sugar cookie dough for cutting. Keith was reluctant to continue, but Lance encouraged him and even offered to guide him, once he got cleaned up from lying on the floor moments earlier.

"How do you plan to do that huh?" challenged Keith with a skeptical look. His Pretty Boy smirked and before he could ask why, Lance had come up behind him to place his arms along Keith's own as he held the roller. "Like this," he said ever so sweetly and it made his heart quicken along with the fact that they were pressed against each other comfortably.

"I hate you."

"Love you too Mullethead."

As the time passed, Lance kept assisting Keith until he started to get the hang of the procedure. When his boyfriend cheered in succeeding at prepping the dough, he was more than happy to be the one to witness the pure joy that radiated from him. Almost right after, Alfor instigated the next challenge with who could cut out the most cookies without ruining their shape. It was fun picking out different shapes and working as fast as possible to safely cut them out before placing them on a tray to bake.

The winners this time ended up being the dorky couple. With permission, they took a break by going outside and taking a stroll as the cookies baked. The morning had shifted into the early afternoon, but it was still quiet and pleasant. They held hands as they walked through the light snowfall and laughed at how silly the other looked with snow caught in their hair.

They couldn't have asked for more as they shared another heartfelt kiss.

It was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the Klance Secret Santa Fic I wrote for @raphidae on tumblr
> 
> Firstly, thank you so much Deary for your detailed prompts. I wanted to do them all, but of course could not, so I settled for the second one instead.
> 
> Secondly, as you requested, I changed up the story. It's got some elements from the movie still, but it's very different.
> 
> Thirdly, you cannot imagine the amount of yelling I did to write this because of the fact that so many things happened that ended up with me scrambling to finish writing this in a few days.
> 
> Fourthly, I wanted it to be as great as I could make it and have it done on time because your considerate message really touched me.
> 
> Fifthly, I double checked too many times my email to make sure I was adding in what you wanted in writing xD
> 
> Lastly, thank you for giving me the opportunity to challenge myself and I hope you enjoy this.
> 
> To everyone, all help is welcome :) and you can message me on tumblr, twitter, or instagram @CLDJendis66


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